


Sorores

by SummerLeighWind



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Adults, Child Abuse, Childhood, Children, F/M, Gen, Growing Up, Hiding, Pre-Canon, Sister Complex, Sister-Sister Relationship, Sisters, Talking, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-10
Updated: 2015-05-28
Packaged: 2018-03-29 12:23:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 6,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3896191
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SummerLeighWind/pseuds/SummerLeighWind
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Five times Petunia suggests to Lily they run away together and the one time Lily does the suggesting.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Circus

* * *

They're together. That's not new or different, though. They often hole away side by side because the alternative - to hide  _alone_ is much worse than both of them being caught. There's something to be said when one fears loneliness more than they fear pain, or, maybe, it means something important when the pain of forced isolation outweighs the sting and ache of physical violence. Either way, they're going to end up hurt in the end. So, really it comes down to is it better to be in pain alone or with a someone at your side?

For them, sharing the pain is just another thing that binds them - like blood and noses and names and a love of strawberry jam and hand-me-downs. It's all just part of their list and it has been so long that way, to envision it any other way is nearly impossible.

Carefully shifting to her belly, Petunia lets her pale green eyes meet the more vibrant hued ones of her little sister. "Someday, we'll runaway together," she tells the chubby-cheeked five-year-old.

"To where?" Lily asks with all the solemnity possessed by a of child her age, believing fully in her sister.

Reaching over, Petunia twines her fingers together with her little sister's and thinks. Where to? Will they go to the city the Queen lives in? Or, maybe, that seaside village her parents had taken them to last summer for holiday? Or..."We'll join the circus," she declares. "Like the one we saw on the telly yesterday. I bet they can always use help cleanin' up after their horses or sellin' tickets."

"Cleanin' up after the  _horses_?" Lily repeats with mild disgust. "That job sounds  _icky_ ," she grumbles.

Petunia sighs. "You'd get used to it and 'sides, you'd get to pet the horses  _while_ you do it!"

"That might be nice," the younger admits.

Petunia smiles, which draws one from Lily as well.

Neither of their grins last long, though, because the next thing the two know hands are clamping around their ankles and they are being dragged out rough and hard from their hiding spot. Manhandled up from the floor next, the girls stare wild-eyed into the vexed face of their mother.

"You little  _beasts_!" she snarls at them. "You two are going to  _pay_ for the mess you left in  _my kitchen_!"

Frog-hopped from the room, neither girl says a word. They know it's futile, anyway. It doesn't matter if Petunia has made sure they swept all the crumbs from their breakfast onto their plates after they finished eating and straightened out the tablecloth before stacking their dishes in the sink like they are supposed to.

Their mother will see what she likes and most of the time, she sees a disaster zone in the kitchen after they eat breakfast. They can offer to clean up for their mother, but it will never be good enough and they'll still be punished in the end for it being messy. They can refuse to eat, but that will upset their mother even more than a mess because she'll think they are trying to make her look like a bad mother and will punish them for  _that._

In the end, Petunia feels, they've done their best. Running and hiding until their daddy comes home is the best bet they have most days and unfortunately, that only saves their hides for so long as their mother has gotten better at seeking over the years. Soon, Petunia is hoping they can turning their hiding outdoors once the weather is nicer again. At least then they are safe from punishment most days if they manage to get far enough away quickly.

Mum almost never punishes them when Daddy is in the house and when she does, she always has a good story for why it has to happen and why she has to use the wooden spoon.

Daddy doesn't like seeing his little princess and baby get smacked, but he accepts that sometimes, it just "has to happen".

Now in the small white and yellow kitchen they've run from only an hour and a half ago, Lily and Petunia are lined up by the table. Their mother then orders, "Skirts up!"

Hiking the thin fabric up, Petunia squeezes her eyes shut and waits for the first stinging whack. This time, she swears she isn't going to cry. She is going to make it through this without vexing their mother further by making her clean up her ugly, snotty red face when the spanking is done. She'll  _do_ it this time.

(Petunia ends up crying, but not as bad as Lily who's gasping for air from the strength of her wails).


	2. Chapter 2

Side by side, the two amble their way back home from the park. Usually they're be all but jogging - just to ensure they get home on time, but, as they are already late, putting off the coming punishment is the best they can do now. They have been told to be home by noon, but, instead, they are who knows how late. This is due to the fact the watch Petunia has taken with them to the park picked today, of all days, to stop working. Worry gnawing at her stomach, Petunia takes a moment to glance out of the corner of her eye at her sister, she frowns. Lily's face isn't troubled, no, it's  _dreamy_.

Obviously, her thoughts are very far from their impending doom.

Their mother had already been in a mood this morning, muttering, scowling,  _pacing_ around the kitchen as they ate breakfast. If the girls hadn't scrambled to put their things in the sink and run out the backdoor when the delivery man came to the door, they might have risked getting punished for making a "mess" of their breakfast.

Now, though, they aren't going to get another chance to escape until after dinner. They are going to take one step into their home and Mum's going to swoop down on them like some bird of prey and - Petunia rubs her arms. The bruises they are going to get will make them sore for the rest of the week.

Finally, when she sees a smile beginning on on Lily's face, Petunia demands, "What are you grinning about? There's  _nothing_ to smile about! Mum's going to get us good for being late, I want you to realize."

Lily frowns. "But, it's the watch's fault-"

"So?" Petunia cuts in. "Do you think Mum's going to listen to us? Or that she's even going to care? You  _know_ how she is! You've only  _lived_  with her for ten years!" Petunia snaps.

"Daddy-"

Stopping, Petunia feels her stomach do that familiar flip at the mention of their guileless father as she grits, " _Isn't_ home!"

Lily's shoulders slump. "Severus said Hogwarts is a boarding school - that you can stay there  _all_ year, even for hols."

"Severus, Severus, Severus!" Petunia chants in disgust. "I don't know why you put so much faith that slime! You know what those Spinner End kids are like! A bunch of liars and brutes!"

Green eyes shimmering like jewels, Lily argues, "But, what I do, it's not  _normal_! You've said so yourself! So, it  _has_ to be magic and Severus says he and his Mum can do the  _same_!" Lip trembling, her little sister whimpers, "Why would he lie?"

"Because he's from  _Spinner's End_!" Petunia cries in exasperation. "What more reason could you need?"

Scrubbing at her face, Lily narrows her eyes and bites, "You're jealous! Just like Severus said 'cause I'm a witch and you  _aren't_!"

" _Jealous_?" Petunia sputters. "Hardly! Who'd want to be a freak!"

Her little sister surges forth and gives her a hard shove. "Stop it! Don't calm me that! I hate it when you call me that!" Lily yells, "I hate you! I hate you!"

Staring at the red, enraged face of her sister, Petunia asks in barely a whisper, "Do you really hate me?"

Sniffling some, Lily shakes her head. "No," she answers finally. "Why do you hate Severus so much? What's he done to you?"

"Lily, he called me a  _dumb muggle_ ," she reminds her incredulous.

Frowning, her little sister replies, " _Once_! I told him not to after the first time because it was mean, remember? Besides, you called him names too."

Looking at her sister for a long moment, Petunia thinks of how their days at the park have progressively changed since the dirty Snape boy has come into the picture. Before him, she and Lily would spend their time on the swings together, laying back in the grass and occasionally sitting on top of the monkey bars when the previous two became boring. During all that time, they'd talk and dream and laugh as they imagine what their futures outside of grim little Cokeworth will hold.

But, since Severus told Lily she was a witch...the boy has been  _hoarding_ her. He drags her off to show her things, tell her things, play games of his own with her that Petunia is more often than not, excluded from because,  _"You're a muggle, you aren't supposed to know this stuff."_

And Lily! Her sister never objects. She lets herself be taken, she lets him make her decisions and she never,  _ever_ , tells him no! It's like watching another shade of their parents! Mum makes the rules, like Severus, and Dad - the same as Lily - never questions them.

Petunia doesn't just dislike the Snape boy, she  _hates_ him. He is stealing her sister away from her and Petunia doesn't know how to stop it. Feeling her throat constrict with tears, she admits, "It feels like he's stealing you from me, Lily. You're my  _sister_ , it's supposed to be us till the end."

"Oh 'tuney..." Lily murmurs softly.

Stepping back as her sister makes to wipe away the tears that have begun to fall from her eyes, Petunia whispers, "Lily, you don't need him. You don't need some dumb magic school."

"What if it's my only way to leave, though? What if Hogwarts is it? I don't want to end up stuck here, 'tuney. You've said it yourself, Cokeworth makes you feel like you're choking just by breathing."

Offering her sister her hand, Petunia declares, "You don't need Severus or that magic school to get away from here. We can run away together and leave right now, if you want."

A nervous gleam coming to her eyes, Lily asks, "To where?"

"Anywhere. Birmingham, Manchester, London,  _Paris_ , we can go there; we can leave  _today_."

Staring at her, Petunia's little sister's lips upturn with a shy smile and she's about to place her hand in hers when a shadow comes to loom over them.

Looking up, Petunia's palms begin to sweat as dread courses through her.

Their mother, her eyes beady with fury, snarls, " _You girls are in so much trouble!_ "

Grabbing their wrists in painful grips, Petunia shares a look of pure terror with Lily. Their mother has come  _searching_ for them. She's never done that before and they can only begin to imagine what that means for them.

(After their thrashing, any plans to run away are long since forgotten as they lay curled close in Petunia's bed; crying together as they commiserate).


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos so far, I appreciate it :)

Watching Lily pack her new school things away in her equally new trunk along with anything else she might need, Petunia begins to taste that acidic flavor on the back of her tongue. It's the same taste she'd gotten when Lily got her letter on her birthday, the same flavor that had bothered her the whole time their family walked up and down Diagon Alley buying Lily all the things she would need for school. It's the same as the one that starts whenever her father smiles at Lily and her mother pets her sister's hair.

By now, it's an old friend.

Petunia doesn't  _want_ it to be, though. She wants the friend that's even older than that - the bubbly, tingly feeling that always used to make her heady when Lily looked up to her. When Lily laughed at something she'd said or wanted to hold her hand or said, "I love you, 'tuney." She wants that feeling back  _so bad_ that she's willing to give up her soul to go back to that time.

If only Petunia had the knew how to contact the devil. At this point, she's just as certain in his existence as she is about werewolves and flying brooms; after all, if magic is alive and well, so must be the fallen angel.

"Am I forgetting anything?" Lily asks as she does a slow turn around beside her.

Petunia looks to her hand. It's her sister's half of the trinket necklace set their father had bought them years ago. Her half says sisters and Lily's says forever, but, she's the only one wearing hers these days.

Green eyes find her blue ones. "Well?" Lily questions.

"No," Petunia replies in little more a whisper.

Face taking on a sympathetic set, the younger sits down beside Petunia and says, "I'll be back before you know it."

Crossing her arms, she scoffs. "Maybe it'll be like that for  _you_ , but for me..." Petunia trailed off, hating how her voice took on a quavering pitch.

"I'll write you. Everyday, if you want," Lily offers.

Hands clenching, Petunia feels the dull edges of her sister's half of their necklaces dig into her palm. "Like that's going to do anything! Lily, I'm going to be  _alone_! Alone with  _her_! Do you know what that's going to be like!?"

Gasping on air as she does her damnedest not to cry, Petunia turns away from Lily and curls in on herself. "Lily, we've never been apart like this...What am I to do?"

Her sister's hand is warm as it touches her cheek and wipes away the tears there. "You don't let her win," Lily declares. "Don't let her convince you that you're an awful person and keep away from her like we always have."

Putting her hand on top of her sister's, Petunia meets her gaze. "Don't leave me alone, Lily.  _Please_ don't."

"I can't stay here, though. I need to learn how to work my magic so I don't hurt anybody," her little sister reminds her gently.

Petunia clings harder to Lily's hand as she says, "You got a wand and your books, you could pack those in a bag together and we could run away. Just like I've always said we would, Lily. We could  _do_ it this time! I know we could!"

Green eyes troubled, the younger opens her mouth and Petunia's leaning in, eager to hear if she will be saved or damned. However, before Lily can give any answer, the door to their room swings open.

"Girls, it's time you two get to bed," their mother orders. "Lily has a big day tomorrow and she needs her rest - as do you Petunia."

Jumping up from her sister's bed like she's been caught doing something she shouldn't, Petunia nods at her mother. "Of course, Mum," she says.

Eyeing her critically, the fair haired woman concluded, "Goodnight, girls."

"Night, Mum," Lily replies and their bedroom door closes.

Feeling ridiculous to have ever hoped and even  _believe_ her sister would pick her over the amazing magical school she's to go to tomorrow, Petunia keeps her back to Lily as she crawls beneath her covers and switches off the light of the lamp beside her bed.

Listening intently, she hears her sister get up from her bed and take a step her way. But, Lily says nothing and a moment later, she gets into her own bed.

Closing her eyes to stop the tears, Petunia tells herself it's for the best her little sister never got a chance to answer. Surely if she'd said no, Petunia wouldn't be waking up tomorrow. The blow of her sister voicing her decision to choose magic over Petunia would have been too great for her to handle.

The next morning, after they say their goodbyes to Lily at King's Cross and are on their way home, Petunia opens her window in her family's car. Reaching into her pocket, she takes out Lily's half of the trinket necklace set and tosses it out the window.

After all, they aren't sister's forever anymore. They are divided - one destined for greatness in a fantastical land and another for mundanity in a common world.


	4. Chapter 4

* * *

Walking into their dark bedroom, Petunia pauses with her hand on the light switch. Even in the darkness, she can make out the shape of Lily laying on her bed. Is she asleep? Petunia wonders. It is only eight at night and her sister isn't five anymore and it's been a long time since either of them turned in so early.

Biting her lip at the strange behavior of her sister, the teenager thinks on how the last couple days have gone since Lily has come home. Unlike the previous years where Lily bubbled over with tales of magic and light-hearted fun, her sister has been silent. But, that isn't the only oddness, either. Petunia has also keenly picked up on how Lily's spending all her time in their bedroom or drifting around the house. Before, Lily never stayed home, she always left at the crack of dawn and didn't return until midday for a late lunch. When their mother had grumbled about this, Lily had used her girlish charm to laugh it off.

"Oh, come on, Mum! I'm only in Cokeworth for a couple months out of the year, I'd rather go enjoy it than stay inside all day!"

This usually earned Petunia's sister a frown and later, for Petunia, an earful about how "wild" Hogwarts is making Lily. Sometimes, the teenager wishes she could join her sister like she used to. However...things go smoother when Petunia plays the sympathetic ear to her mother. Lily's saved from a scolding and Petunia can, if she is lucky, earn a compliment for her "good" behavior.

Mum's so sparing in giving them, that earning compliment at the expense of her sister is almost worth it. She always feels guilty, of course. Petunia has been defending her sister from their mother so long that to hold her tongue feels like betrayal every time.

Maybe, Petunia's shaping up to be masochist, the pleasure of her mother's sparing praise outweighing the pain of her traitorous behavior.

Though, that is neither here nor there now. Sighing, Petunia flips the switch. Lily rolls over, the look she's wearing is pitiful and Petunia finds herself clucking her tongue in a mix of distaste and sympathy.

"You've been acting weird, lately - even for you," she remarks.

Lily smiles. "Sorry," she apologizes, "A lot's just...happening."

Going over, Petunia does something she hasn't in  _years_. Nudging her sister, she says, "Scoot." Lily does. Laying down beside her little sister, she wipes away the tears she sees brimming in green eyes.

"What happened?" she asks, "Dad's going to start worrying if his baby doesn't brighten up soon."

Lily's chin quivers and a moment later, Petunia's roughly taken in an embrace as her little sister sobs into her front. Hesitating, Petunia begins to pet the red locks she used to play with when she was a little girl.

"It's - just -  _everything_!" Lily sobs. "First, there are stories about muggles being attacked in the papers by a terrorist group, then stupid,  _bloody_ , James Potter won't leave me alone for a  _day_  and then homes in Hogsmeade were raised to the ground just  _after_ we got back from a day trip there and that's not even the  _worst of it_!"

Soothing her sister with a shushing sound, Petunia questions, "What's the worst, Lily? What's really upset you?"

"Severus," she sniffled. "He called me  _mudblood_ when I tried to defend him!"

Clutching her sister to her, Petunia hissed, "Bastard. I always knew he was a slime!"

"So, you have been reading my letters?" Lily warbled, pulling away and looking up with wide, hopeful eyes. "I didn't expect you to know what a mudblood was..."

Petunia flushed. "I-" she shifted her gaze away from her sister. "Once in a while, when I need a good laugh."

Lily giggled at that. "What do I do, 'tuney? I...things are never going to be the same between us. It's going to be awkward next year, we used to be potions partners, you know? It's also getting sort of scary, too, Hogwarts is the safest place to be, but...the wizard papers say we're on the brink of war - if we aren't already steeped in it like some people say we are."

Heart pounding, Petunia offers with far too much hope, "I don't know, why not just stay here until it blows over? Or better yet, we can leave the country. They're not having this war in Italy, are they?"

Lily pulls away. "I can't do that, Petunia. I need to finish my education - even if the terrorists think I'm dirt. I have to prove them wrong."

Petunia purses her lips and gets up. Once again, she's been a complete dunderhead. Here she's gotten to hoping, for  _once_ in her life, Lily would just  _agree_ with her and save them the strife that always seems to come between them.

"'tuney?" Lily murmurs, fingers reaching out and brushing her arm.

Jerking away, she tells her sister, "I'm done. If you aren't even going to  _consider_ what I'm telling you, then why should I bother?" And, then, more to herself, she whispers, "Why did I bother at all?"

Going to her and Lily's closet, she pulls out the cardigan she'd wanted when she first came to their bedroom and put it on.

"'tuney, what are you doing?" her little sister questions, voice bordering on upset.

Scowling, she snaps, "Leaving, obviously!"

"To where?"

Petunia gives a bitter laugh. "You  _never_ listen! I told you just this morning over breakfast, I have a  _date_! The mailman's son, Tim, asked me if I'd like to go for a ride in his father's car."

Sitting up now, Lily reaches out for her, Petunia's name on her lips, but she slams the door on her sister.

This will be the last time she ever listens to Lily again, because if she can't give the same courtesy, what's the use? They'll just be talking themselves in circles until the end of their days and if there's one thing Petunia hates more than her anything else, it is wasting time.


	5. Chapter 5

Sitting beside her little sister on the front steps of their childhood home, Petunia reflects on all that has lead up to this moment in time. A month ago, her sister had graduated from her magic school. Two weeks ago, Lily had left on a trip to the seaside with some of her friends, her boyfriend and a couple of his friends. A week ago, Petunia had gone out on a muggy Thursday for a picnic with the boy she was seeing. Early Friday morning - just as the sky was turning pink - Petunia had walked into their family's home to find the corpses of her mother and father in the living room.

Their open eyes stared vacantly at the ceiling as they lay on the floor as lifeless as the dolls Petunia and Lily used to leave out haphazardly around their home when they heard their mother come looking for them.

Petunia knows she had screamed. She knows she had screamed so loud, so  _horrified_ the neighbor had called 999. The police didn't know what had killed her parents, but she had her suspicions. Petunia wrote Lily and informed her of what had occurred. Her sister informed her kind's law enforcement and came home.

Petunia greeted her solemnly at the front door.

Knowing words would only lead to fighting, Lily and Petunia put together a funeral for their parents in silence and also, together, they attended it. They have now accepted condolences from their father's coworkers, their neighbors, Lily's friends, Petunia's friends and from relatives they hadn't seen in years. It's finally all over, their mother and father are buried and again, they are two girls alone hiding from something much bigger than themselves.

This time, what they fear isn't tangible. It's incorporeal and all in their heads, but nonetheless, stepping into their girlhood home will put them under siege. Unlike so many things, there are no escaping memories, no matter how hard you try. But, if you do your best, you can keep them at bay and the most effective way Petunia can think to do that is to keep her back to the home she's grown up in. If she looks at it, she knows she'll see her mother in the window and smell her father's favorite cigarettes and...and if she's very unfortunate, she'll hear the phantom laughter of the little girls she and her sister used to be.

"What are you going to do now, 'tuney?" Lily asks.

Petunia looks sidelong at her little sister, "Go to London, like I always wanted, I suppose. I hear there's a typing course I can take there that'll get me a job, if I do well in it."

Lily nods. "I envy you. I don't have any clue what I'm going to do next."

"You don't?" she mutters dubiously. "Then, what are you going to do when cab for me comes?"

Her little smiles. "Oh, don't worry about me, 'tuney. After you leave, I'll leave. James is waiting for me back at our place, after all."

"How are you getting back to your place?" Petunia demands.

"I'll just go around back and disapparate. It's the quickest way, after all."

Petunia vaguely recalled the explanation her sister had given their parents on apparition at the start of the summer when they asked if they'd need to help her arrange a ride to the seaside. "Oh," she replies.

Scuffing her foot, Lily sighs. "I'm sorry," she tells her.

"What in the world for?" Petunia questions irritably, annoyed at the idea that her sister might be blaming herself for what happened to their parents. Because, how could it be? From what Lily's been saying for the past few years, that terrorist group has been attacking regular people at random for a long time, so, how's it her fault their parents ended up in that bunch of unfortunate souls?

Meeting her gaze, guilty green eyes shimmer. "I told He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Name that I wouldn't join his little group when he asked myself and James to and-" tears bead up in her eyes as Lily turns her head. "And I think he went after Mum and Daddy because of it."

Petunia wants to feel shock, outrage, fury, but all she is is numb. "I don't get it," she says, "You say you like it in that freak-world, but look what they do to you, they kill your parents, but you still are going to go back."

"It's as good as home now," Lily explains, "Without Mum and Dad, what's here for me?"

She stood up. "God, Lily, what about  _me_? Don't  _I_ matter? Aren't I  _here_!" she shouts, waving her arms in the air as she indicates to the world around them. "I told you once before you didn't have to go back, and I suggested this once before, too;  _just leave_. You don't need that damn world. You have me and that should be enough for you. If you care about yourself - me -  _at all_ , you'll leave that freak-world and come runaway with me to-to America or someplace. We'll be safe there."

Lily shakes her head. "It's home to me, 'tuney. It's where all my friends are, where  _James_ is. I can't abandon them when they needs me most."

"You're impossible," Petunia hisses as the sound of the cab pulling up catches her attention. "You're impossible and I  _hate_ you! God, Lily, I try and I  _try_! But, what do you do? You throw it all back in my face and say you love that stupid world more than you love me, your  _sister_!"

"Petunia!"

Grabbing her suitcase, Petunia turns smartly and stalks toward the waiting cab.

"Petunia!" Lily calls once more.

Ignoring her, she gets into the car and stares staunchly ahead.

There's a knocking at her window.

"Miss?" the cab driver asks hesitantly, his brown eyes staring at her from the rearview mirror.

Pressing her lips into a thin line, Petunia orders, "Drive, please."

The ignition starts again and off they are.

Petunia does not look back.

 _She doesn't_.


	6. Chapter 6

Exhausted, but happy, Petunia lays her two week old son down in his cot. Straightening back out, she lingers to smile fondly on her son. He's perfect; from his wispy blond hair to his chubby cheeks to his little hands and to his rosy pink toes. Petunia couldn't have ever asked for more out of a child and she knows, without doubt, she always will.

She'll never be like her mother. Dudley will not have to fear making messes, being too loud walking up the stairs or for giving looks he doesn't know he is making. If Petunia has any say, her son will never, ever think for a moment he's inadequate or unloved.

The chime of the doorbell reaches Petunia's ears. Gaze snapping to Dudley's face, Petunia breaths a sigh of relief when she sees it is as untroubled as it was just a moment before. Backing away slowly from the cot, she makes her way to the door and grabs the second baby monitor sitting on the dresser before closing her son's bedroom door behind her.

Walking down stairs, she goes and opens the front door next.

She blinks at who's waiting on the other side. "...Lily," she greets.

Nervous, her younger sister's gaze darts around the area before coming back to Petunia's face. "Can I come in?" she asks.

Pursing her lips, Petunia nods. "Vernon will be home for lunch in half an hour, I want you to know, though," she tells her sister as the heavily pregnant woman hurries in.

"Oh, that's alright," Lily laughs a bit too loudly.

Raising an eyebrow in response, Petunia makes the decision to ignore the strangeness of it and puts to use her homemaker skills instead. Gesturing to the sitting room, Petunia tells her little sister, "Take a seat."

Relieved, Lily does so. "I get so tired easy..." she sighs as she rubs her stomach. "This rascal's not even born and he's tiring me out!"

Petunia snorts. "Just wait until you're waking up every other hour to feed him - I've been grabbing kips whenever I can since Dudley's been born."

"Yes, how is - Dudley - doing?"

Taking a seat across from her sister, Petunia smooths out her skirt. "Oh, you know, good. He's quite normal by all accounts, so we're very happy."

"That's nice," Lily smiles.

Frowning, Petunia questions, "Lily, why are you here? I thought you were in hiding."

Her sister flinches. "I...am? Well, James thinks I'm just taking a nap in our room right now. I left, though." Nervously, Lily begins to twirl her hair as she gave Petunia a small smile. "'tuney, do you remember how when we were growing up you used to say we could run away together?" she asks.

Petunia frowns. "Yes, I also distinctly recall you never agreeing to," the woman replies.

Lily's shoulders slump. "Look, I was being a dunderhead, alright? I  _understand_ now. I get why you always wanted to and...and I was wondering if you would like to now? We could all go someplace else...I hear it's nice in Australia during this time of year."

"No," Petunia answers firmly. "I have a life here - one I  _like_. I'm not going to throw it all away just because you've finally gotten scared enough to accept the offer. That's all you are, you know that, don't you? You don't  _really_ want to run, Lily. I know you. You're brave. You're strong. You're just having a lapse in...character."

Looking pointedly at her sister's very large and swollen stomach, Petunia murmurs not unkindly, "Which, should be expected. The hormones are still wreaking havoc on me - someone who's living  _normally_. I can only imagine what they would do to someone in a situation like yours."

Lily begins to sniffle. "You're too kind, 'tuney. I'm only brave because you showed me how to be, you know? When we were little and hiding from Mum, I used to think you were some kind of personal heroine just for me. Remember how you took the blame for breaking that porcelain figurine? You knew I'd done it, even if I wasn't saying anything when Mum lined us up in the kitchen. But...you didn't tell her that, you told her you'd done it. She smacked you good for that, but when I cried about it later, apologizing for being so scared, you told me, 'That's what big sister's do, so stop being a crybaby.' Do you remember any of that 'tuney?"

Petunia does remember, she remembers it so well she can feel the phantom sting of her the wooden spoon on her thighs. Rubbing a hand up and down her leg, she tells Lily, "Then, you should also remember that it was you who had the gall to call Mother a meanie to her face. Lily, it wasn't me who taught you anything. We were always in it together, we grew strong together; each of us picking up the other when they got tired or frightened by it all. Neither of us was stronger, we were partners in a never ending battle."

Meeting the green eyed gaze of her sister, Petunia demands, "Do not turn me into something mythical. I am a regular person - a wife and mother, nothing special and nothing new. I won't have you try and fluff my feathers by making me feel like I'm something amazing when I'm not."

"But,  _Petunia_ -"

Standing up, the woman shook her head. "No, Lily. I won't have it. Go home to your husband. Go home to where you'll be safe and your child will be safe when he's born. I won't have you risk my nephew's life and yours just because you've gotten a little frightened of something you  _chose_ to be a part of."

Lily stares up at her. Face pale and uncertain. Sighing, Petunia goes and helps her sister up from the chair. "Go home. Please," she whispers. "Vernon will be home at any moment, and I...I told him we were done with all your magic nonsense. If he sees you here, he'll get upset and start fretting about nothing. I love him, Lily, but he can get very...protective in the face of what looks like danger to him."

Wiping away her tears, Lily agrees, "He's probably right to think I'm dangerous. I took every precaution getting here, but, sometimes, you just never know. Don't worry, I'll make sure to tell someone to come do a sweep of the area after I go home, but, 'tuney? Thanks for not turning me away at the door."

Grunting her acknowledgement and irritation at her Lily's possible carelessness, the woman leans in and kisses her sister's cheek at the door. "Be safe," she orders Lily. "I hope you'll send those police men of yours sooner rather than later. And Lily, am I to assume I'll see you once the war is over?"

Lily grins. "Yeah, I'll send them a letter right away. Yes also to the part about after the war, I'll come by then - with Harry too. It'd be nice if he could know his cousin a bit."

"That it will," Petunia agrees with a faint twitch of her lips as she closes the door behind her sister.

Later, when Vernon comes home, he asks why her eyes are red. She tells him it's due to some silly special she'd caught a bit of on the telly about war orphans, he believes her and pats her hand in guileless sympathy.

"Those specials are especially awful to think about, aren't they? Sometimes, I wonder what we would do if we lived in a place like that with our Dudley," he comments. "Or where our Dudley would go if anything ever happened to us - here or there."

Petunia nods. "Yes, it is scary to imagine."

She thinks of Lily's son, a child about to be born in a war-torn land and what will happen to him if Lily and her husband don't make it out alive for the rest of the day. Petunia would take Lily's son, she knows, but she doesn't think she'll be capable of giving him the love he'll deserve. She knows why her sister's in hiding, after all, it's because of the baby and if Lily ends up dead, it will be due to him and his role as evil's downfall.

Petunia thinks she might already hate Lily's son.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading and please let me know what you think with a comment and/or kudo :)


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